


Don't you know

by MickeyJrWrites



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-04-27 17:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5057899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MickeyJrWrites/pseuds/MickeyJrWrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria and Natasha hold movienight. Fluff happens</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Maria was watching the TV with a vengeance, desperately pretending to be distracted by the loud action movie.

Natasha had shifted during their weekly movienight. The poor redhead shouldn’t be at her apartment at all, she just came back from a tiring mission in Siberia.

Maria gave her the option to back out on their weekly hang-out, knowing that the spy would be jetlagged, grumpy and quite possibly very very sore. But Natasha had insisted that they couldn’t interrupt their ritual.

So there she was, slouched on Maria’s couch, her glass of wine left untouched on the coffee table.

Maria didn’t need to be a spy to know that Natasha was falling asleep slowly. Falling asleep with her head on Maria’s lap.

She tried not to show how nervous it made her. She really did. But it wasn’t everyday that _Natasha Romanoff_ pooled herself on her lap and she had to pretend that that was perfectly fine, friendly behavior.

Maria’s fist were clenched at her sides and her posture was more rigid than when she stood on bridge of the helicarrier shouting orders. She’d give anything to be there. Hell, she would even give anything to be standing in the middle of the battle of New York instead of here.

She could handle aliens and robots, but this? This was a kind of torture not even Commander Hill could withstand.

“You’re going to burn holes into your TV if you keep glaring at it like that.” Natasha had turned on her back, staring up at Maria.

Maria fumbled a little, “I… I was just watching… not glaring. No glaring. I don’t glare.”

Natasha smiled a little droopy, sleepy. She was going to retort, no doubt on Maria’s lack of composure, but yawned loudly instead.

Maria chuckled at the small woman and turned the TV off, she wasn’t watching it anyways, “I think Itsy Bitsy Spider needs a nap.”

Natasha pretended to glare at her, but had to concede, “Yeah, I’ll just have to remember where I put my shoes and then I’ll be on my home.”

“You can’t go home like this Nat.”

Natasha smirked, “Worried someone is going to take advantage of me in this state?”

Instantly, Maria felt a bit of pity for anyone who would try to bother a grumpy and tired Natasha. Just a little bit though.

“No,” Maria cracked a smile, “Worried that you’ll fall asleep in the subway and I’ll have to come and save you somewhere in New York.”

She drew a chuckle from the redhead, one that filled her stomach with butterflies.

She willed them away, crushing on the Black Widow was not a good idea, no matter how lovely and gorgeous Natasha Romanoff was.

“You still have pajamas in the guest room.” Maria remembered, “Come on.”

Natasha didn’t budge, instead she turned a little on Maria’s lap, so that her face was firmly tucked into Maria’s stomach.

“Naaaaat, you can’t sleep on top of me.”

Natasha looked back up at her face, green eyes twinkling, “I can’t? And here I was thinking it was your ultimate fantasy.”

Maria went red. Logically, she knew Natasha was only teasing her. She knew that. But the comment hit too close to reality and Maria was spluttering to respond.

She didn’t have to, Natasha laughed heartily at her, no doubt mortified, expression and tucked herself back into Maria’s belly.

“Natasha.” Maria nudged her gently, “You’ll be more comfortable in bed.”

“Doubt it.” Natasha mumbled against Maria’s shirt.

Without thinking, Maria brushed Nat’s hair out of her face. Natasha sighed happily, prompting her to brush her fingers through soft red locks.

“Now _this_ I like.” Natasha hummed and shuffled impossibly closer.

Maria smiled only a little. Natasha was being so close and cute and sleepy, and it was annoying and endearing at the same time. Maria wanted to push her off, away from those treacherous butterflies in stomach, but at the same time she wanted her closer, she wanted to hold her tight until they fused into one. She wanted to crawl inside of the redhead and live there forever. Close.

Natasha was drifting off, the jetlag and general comfy-ness of Maria soothing her gently.

She wished it was possible, but Maria couldn’t stay like this with Natasha all night. Neither of their bodies would appreciate spending the night on the couch. Especially not when there were two very comfy beds very close.

Maria wriggled out from underneath her friend, making Natasha grumble sleepily. She crouched down next to the couch and gently jostled the redhead.

“Nat? Come on honey, you need to go to bed.” The term of endearment fell easily from her lips.

Natasha cracked one sleepy eye open, turned to face Maria and wrapped her arms around her neck.

Maria nearly fell over from surprise.

“Carry me.” Natasha pleaded, hanging onto her like a dead weight.

“Uhm… sure…”

Maria had a hard time wrapping her arms around the small woman to lift her up, desperately trying to avoid touching… things. She swept Natasha off the couch with a little grunt. The assassin was surprisingly heavy.

Natasha hummed and buried her face in Maria’s neck, rubbing her nose against the sensitive skin.

Maria’s mind was reeling and it took all her concentration not to think about Natasha’s nuzzling. With careful steps she carried the woman all the way to her guestroom.

By this point, the room could easily be dubbed Natasha’s bedroom. The redhead was the only one who ever stayed over, and the room was littered with her clothes and shoes.

Ever so gently she laid Natasha down on the soft bed, but to her surprise Sleepy Nat didn’t let go of her.

She was bent awkwardly over the bed, almost touching Natasha’s nose. Maria chuckled uncomfortably, “Nat? Let go of me Sleepy.”

Natasha grunted and turned on her side, dragging Maria with her. The tall woman toppled over onto the bed, narrowly avoiding crushing the redhead.

“Stay.” Natasha mumbled, obliviously asleep, snuggling into Maria.

“Natasha, don’t…” Maria pleaded. She couldn’t do this. Not with Natasha.

She was fine staying friends with Natasha. Honestly. Perfectly fine. It was just a little crush, Maria could handle it. But when Natasha did this. When she got close. When she made Maria feel special. Maria couldn’t deal with that. She couldn’t get that little bit at night, and forget about it in the morning. Even if Natasha was blissfully unaware of Maria’s struggle.

Natasha shuffled until she was almost on top of, pinning Maria onto the mattress. She could have gotten away. She could easily have gotten away. But to Maria, it felt like she couldn’t. Her brain told her to run, but her body didn’t listen.

Natasha was soft on top of her, her warm breath hit her neck steadily. She seemed so comfortable.

Maria couldn’t help the tear in her eye. It was just too hard to crush on her best friend. Natasha didn’t play fair. She was too gorgeous and cute. It wasn’t fair.

One tear became many, and Maria was having a hard time suppressing the sobs that wrecked her body.

Her jostling seemed to wake up the redhead on top of her, and Natasha blinked up at her.

“You’re crying.” It didn’t sound much like a question, but Maria knew it was. She knew Natasha and her awkward attempt at emotions.

She wiped at her eyes, “I’m fine.”

She couldn’t tell her. Not ever. Because no matter how hard it got, being Natasha’s friend was the most amazing thing ever, and Maria could never give that up.

“You can talk to me Mia.” Her voice was soft and a little husky from sleep.

Maria nodded, “I know. But there’s nothing to say. Just emotional.”

Natasha stared into her eyes. Observing her. Trying to detect the truth.

“Okay.” She was quiet, and slowly, maybe even hesitantly, she settled back down on top of Maria.

“Don’t you need pajamas?” Maria protested weakly.

“No, I’m too comfy to move.” Natasha paused a little, “Mia? You think you can… stroke my hair again? I liked it…”

Maria swallowed heavily, but did what the redhead asked. She wrapped one arm around Natasha’s middle and gently raked her fingers through her hair.

Natasha made a noise between a moan and a hum, and melted into Maria’s arms.

Slowly but surely, Maria’s racing heart calmed down, and she found herself soothed by the warmth and closeness of Natasha. She felt herself drifting off to the soft rhythm of Natasha's heartbeat.

She vaguely felt Natasha move in her arms. Barely noticed soft lips press against her cheek and breath ghosting over her ear, “Я люблю тебя.”


	2. Chapter 2

Maria woke up to the smell of coffee. She stretched out luxuriously, reveling in the Saturday morning.

Her knees cracked a little as she got up. Her nose scrunched up when she noticed she was still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

She changed into her weekend-sweatpants quickly and went to the kitchen to go find her favorite redhead.

She found her staring intently at the coffeemachine, wearing nothing but a sweater that was too big for Maria. On her short body it looked almost like a dress.

“Good morning.” Maria smiled at Natasha and sat down at the table, content to watch the woman fiddle around in her kitchen, “That’s my sweater.”

“Morning.” Natasha’s voice was gravely from sleep, “It was the first thing I found.”

“Liar.” Maria chuckled, “We slept in the guestroom, that sweater was in my bedroom.”

Natasha smirked, but didn’t deny it.

She put a mug of steaming coffee in front of Maria and sat down across her, folding her legs under her, tucking herself completely into the sweater.

“Thanks.” she took a sip of coffee, “You didn’t have to do that.”

Natasha shrugged, “It’s a thank you for playing my human pillow last night.”

Maria blushed a little at the memory of how perfectly Natasha had fitted in her arms.

“Besides, I replaced your coffee. This one is way better than that sludge you kept around.” Natasha grinned smugly.

“Huh, didn’t notice.” Maria peered at her mug. It didn’t taste any different than what she usually had. But then again, she didn’t drink it for the taste, more for the fact that it was the only thing that could keep her awake during SHIELD budget meetings.

Natasha glared defiantly, “Come on Hill! This is good coffee.”

To prove her point, the redhead took a big gulp of the scalding hot coffee. “Дерьмо! That is fucking hot!”

The familiarity of the sound had Maria’s eyes narrow, “Russian?”

“What?” Natasha was wiping at her lips, “Yeah, Russian. I curse in Russian.”

The redhead didn’t notice Maria’s frown, “No. Last night, when I was falling asleep, you said something in Russian. I recognize the sound.”

Maria saw the tiniest flash of panic in Natasha’s eyes.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Nat, what did you say?” Maria’s curiosity was peaked. That and she remembered the soft lips on her cheek when Natasha had spoken to her. She couldn’t help feel a little flicker of hope.

Natasha shook her head, “You were probably dreaming Mia.”

“I don’t dream in Russian.” She protested softly.

“I didn’t say anything.” Natasha repeated, her voice was quiet and somehow she couldn’t quite look Maria in the eye.

There was no point in pushing her. Maria knew Nat’s walls could go up faster than the blink of an eye.

“Okay.”

“Yeah?” Natasha seemed a little surprised, it was insanely endearing. Maria had to smile.

“Yeah. You don’t want to talk about it. That’s fine.” Maria was honest. Her curiosity wasn’t as important as Natasha’s ease. “But I know you said something.”

Natasha sighed deeply, “I think we need to go to get groceries today, we’re almost out of juice.”

The change of subject told Maria clearly that she needed to drop it.

“I bought juice two days ago, there has to be some left?”

“You bought that cheap stuff Mia, that’s not juice, it’s liquid sugar with a little coloring.”

“Tasha! You can’t just throw away the juice because it isn’t fancy enough!” Maria protested with a little smile.

“I didn’t throw it out, I gave it to Clint.” Natasha seemed so pleased with herself and Maria couldn’t help but shake her head at her.

“You gave my juice to Barton? What am I? A foodbank?”

“I’m pretty sure the foodbank wouldn’t accept that poison that you call juice.” Natasha sassed, “Come on Mia! I want to go to that farmers’ market!”

Maria groaned loudly, she hated that hipster market more than anything. With all the beards and ‘vintage’ iPhones. _Ugh!_

“Please Maria?” Natasha pouted over the rim of her mug, “I’ll buy you an organic pretzel?”

“With chocolate?”

“Promise!” Natasha’s eyes twinkled and Maria knew she had already lost this battle of wills.

“Fiiiiiiiine!”

Natasha smiled widely and rewarded Maria with a soft kiss on the cheek, “Thanks babe!”

Maria flushed red, ducking her head in embarrassment in a way that made Natasha chuckle.

“Come on cutie, go get dressed, I’m taking you to town!” Natasha jumped of her chair with way more enthusiasm than someone should have in the morning, leaving Maria flustered and a little disbelieving.

She was _so_ whipped!

“Who’d have thought that the Black Widow would be such a freaking hipster.” Maria muttered to herself, dragging her feet to her bedroom to find clothes.

She sighed when she found Natasha in front of her closet.

“What are you doing Nat?”

“Eh, I didn’t bring a change of clothes, so I’m borrowing yours.” Natasha shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“You have an entire closet full of your stuff in the guestroom.” Maria mentioned, but she didn’t stop Natasha from rifling through her stuff, it was just something the redhead did. Maria didn’t even think it was odd anymore.

Natasha pulled out a flannel shirt and held it against her body, “You know, you should buy more comfy sweaters for me to wear.”

Maria frowned, “ _I_ should buy sweaters for _you_? Aren’t you old enough to buy your own clothes by now?”

“No, _you_ need to buy sweaters for _you_ so that _I_ can steal them afterwards.” Natasha changed into the flannel, “It’s completely different.”

Maria pulled a pair of skinnies over her hips, “I don’t see how that’s different, but fine, I’ll buy some more.”

“It is different. I take them with me on missions, so you’ll be with me a bit.” Natasha shrugged, “It wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t your sweaters.”

Maria’s head shot up, “You do what?!”

“I take them with me. It’s comforting.”

“What are you saying Natasha?” Maria turned around to face her friend.

Natasha stared at her, a little confused, “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?!” Maria lost her cool a little, “Why do you take _my_ sweaters with you? Why would you want that?”

“I… I…” Natasha looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She couldn’t give Maria the explanation she so desperately needed.

“Natasha?” Maria pushed on, pleading a little, “What is going on here?”

Natasha shrugged, “Nothing is going on. Don’t worry, okay? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

Maria’s head was reeling. Her friend wasn’t making any sense to her. And Maria felt like she was going to explode, or cry. Probably cry.

Natasha who just stood there, by _her_ closet, wearing _her_ unbuttoned flannel and not much more. In _her_ house where Natasha had her own room because that was just how it was. And it didn’t faze her, because that was what Natasha did.

Natasha who threw her coffee out and gave her juice away, and Maria barely blinked, because Natasha just did that. It was so her to do like that, to be like that.

Natasha who bribed with her pretzels and petnames and winks and the redhead didn’t even blink when it worked.

Maria gasped when it hit her.

“You know!” Her tone was almost accusing, “Oh my god Natasha! You know!”

“What do I know?” Natasha frowned like she had just grown a second head, “Maria, right now I don’t think I really know anything.”

Maria waved a finger at the redhead, “You know I’m in love with you!”

Natasha blinked dumbly, and for a second, Maria felt fear. What if she didn’t know?

“Of course I know!” Natasha stated confidently, “What the hell do you think I’m doing here?”

“Oh god!” Maria groaned, completely mortified, “You weren’t supposed to know Nat!”

“How can I not know Mia? We were friends for ages!” Natasha argued with the smallest smile, that send Maria spiraling further into her confusion.

“ _Were_ friends? We _were_ friends?” Maria willed her voice not to crack over those words, “What are we now then?”

“Well, I like to think that…” Natasha smirk faltered, “Wait… what do you think we are?”

“Well I thought we’re friends, but apparently I’m alone in that!”

“Mia, sweetie, babe,” Natasha chuckled nervously and Maria kinda wanted to strangle her, “you think we’re friends?”

Maria wanted to cry, “Of course I thought that! But I obviously know better now!”

“Babe…” “Don’t call me that!” Maria interrupted angrily.

“Will you shut up!” Natasha snapped, “I’m sorry Mia, but… there’s been a little misunderstanding…”

“No shit Sherlock.” Maria muttered sullenly, shutting up when Natasha glared at her.

“Look… God… this is embarrassing…” Natasha scratched her head awkwardly, “I… over the past weeks, things have been… different… here… with us… and I liked it… and I thought you did too… and I assumed, which I shouldn’t have because I was obviously wrong, but…”

“Just spit it out Nat!”

“Goddammit! I thought we were together!” Natasha huffed in frustration.

Maria couldn’t form a thought. Her brain had officially left the building. Her jaw was firmly on the floor and she didn’t think it would ever get off the floor again.

Natasha’s words hit her like a loaded truck. Together? As in together _together?_

“And you had no idea…” Natasha muttered, tugging on the flannel so it would cover her lithe body. “I am just going to go now…”

Maria shook her head to clear her thoughts when she finally picked up on Natasha’s dejected tone.

“Don’t go. Please?” Maria whispered, her voice had apparently left along with her ability to think, “Just… what just happened here?”

“I don’t think I know.” Natasha chuckled sadly, “It’s just… Maria… you’ve been acting different around me, for a while now. You’ve been nicer and happier and touchier, and I just thought… it’s stupid…”

“It’s not stupid.” Maria wanted to reach out to her, but she had no idea how to act, “You… were right. I didn’t think I was so obvious though… but yeah, for me, things have been different…”

“For me too.” Natasha admitted softly with a hesitant smile. A smile that Maria couldn’t help but reciprocate until they were both smiling like idiots at each other.

“How could you think that we were… you know?” Maria was curious. How much signals had she actually missed?

Natasha shrugged sheepishly, “I don’t know… I thought, you were acting different, so if I did it too, you’d notice? And you didn’t say anything when I started being around you more, so I thought that was just… our arrangement?”

Maria chuckled, “Really? Nat, we never did anything couple-ish. How could you think we were together?”

“Mia we’ve been sleeping in the same bed for about a month! I use you as a pillow! In what way could that ever be platonic?” Natasha asked with a smile, “For the Deputy Director, you can be pretty oblivious babe.”

“But we never kissed!” Maria pointed out, and when the words left her mouth, she blushed a little. Because a kiss from Natasha suddenly seemed more of a possibility than ever before.

Natasha scuffed her feet, “I thought you would… you know… start it… but then you didn’t so I guessed that maybe you just didn’t really like the physical aspects of a relationship? I mean, you always pulled a weird face when I cuddled you.”

“Yeah, that face is called ‘torture because I’m in love with my best friend but she has no idea because she doesn’t like me back’. It probably isn’t my best look.”

“I am though…” Natasha blushed just the tiniest bit, “I am in love with you… that’s what I said yesterday night… I just didn’t think we were there yet, to say it. But I am.”

Maria gaped, because for all the times Natasha had said that she was interested, it had never actually seeped in. “You really like me?”

“Yeah… I really do…”

The rush of butterflies swirled through her body harder than ever before, and Maria couldn’t help but grin like an idiot.

“So… what’s next?”

Natasha smirked devilishly, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I promised my girl a chocolate pretzel.”

“Your girl?” Maria scoffed but she couldn’t hide her wide smile at those words.

“Yeah, my girl.”


End file.
